I Think I Love You
by Reda
Summary: /GoChi/ - Early in their marriage, Goku shows Chi-Chi a few tricks in using the power pole, but then she faints unexpectedly.


**GoChi Fic Request**

 **Title:** I Think I Love You

 **Words:** 1,891

 **A/N:** I want more stories of Goku showing Chi-Chi ways to use the power pole. Just saying. It's not the focus here, but I _need_ more. Come on, guys. Search them out for me if they exist.

Request on tumblr: Taking place early in the marriage, an unknowingly pregnant Chichi faints out of the blue, and Goku basically nurses her while she's unconscious and realizes that he's in love with her. Up to the challenge?

~!~

"Here," Goku said, adjusting her position slightly. "Try it more like this."

She huffed as he moved her hands along the red pole, which made him smile a little. He _had_ been correcting her choice of stances all day, so maybe she was a little annoyed. Still. She hadn't complained yet, and he liked spending time with her like this. It was nice to be married to someone who enjoyed martial arts, even if Chi-Chi spent a lot of time in their house.

Having similar interests, at least in something, meant living with her for the rest of his life was going to be fun. Of course there were other reasons he liked this marriage thing so far, too. Her company, her food, her...

Shifting her position, Chi-Chi curled back against him and Goku felt his breath catch at the feel of her warm body flush against his. "Like this?"

"Uh," his voice said as his brain took time to catch up. "Yeah."

Her annoyed huff from earlier transformed into a sly hum. Was she doing this on purpose? They had already established how much he actually liked the close contact with her, but she had told him how she wasn't feeling up to anything right now so if he got excited for any reason then he was on his own. Yet _she_ was the one pressing against him, her back against his chest, her legs bent at a slight angle to his own. Oh, and her scent consumed him.

All the smells of nature combined couldn't mask her special flowery, earthy scent mixture. With her long hair so close, it was even stronger. His hands were already resting on her wrist and arm to help her with her stance, but now he moved them toward her hips, having an urge to create that unexpected friction again.

"Goku."

"Hm?"

Chi-Chi turned her head, looking over her shoulder up into his eyes. "Why don't you go ahead and step back and watch me?"

He blinked. "Huh?"

When she smiled playfully, he _knew_ she was doing this on purpose. "You were showing me some kata with your power pole. Didn't you want to watch and see what I can do?"

Biting back the whine, Goku removed his hands from her sides and stepped back. Without saying a word, he sat down in the grass and crossed his legs, setting his hands on his knees as he tried to breathe life back into his brain. Chi-Chi had already told him no intimate stuff today because of how her stomach felt. He should control himself better. Besides, he really _did_ want to watch her shift through the kata he had taught her.

Though now he was beginning to wonder if it was such a good idea with how much he was having to fight those intimate urges already.

"Oh, don't pout like that, Goku," Chi-Chi said. "Just focus on my movements and let me know where I can improve, okay?"

With a nod, he murmured. "Right."

Chi-Chi smiled again, and then she _moved_. Her steps flowed seamlessly from one stance to another. Though he had to admit her use of the pole between stances was clumsy, involving too much extra movement. But it was still _stunning_.

His mouth fell open as he watched her, so entranced by the glow that seemed to surround her now. He couldn't seem to think straight. His heart pulsed in his ears as the world tipped away and his eyes saw only her. Her gaze steady and focused. Her hair twirling across her shoulders in its loose ponytail. Her breathing even but, no, wait, her breath was puffing out at a quicker pace with each move. Was she exerting herself too much? That wasn't normal. Chi-Chi was active, strong; she shouldn't be tired for some time yet.

When he felt her _ki_ flutter strangely, he sprang to his feet. Rushed over to her as she stopped moving, as she dropped the pole. Stood by her as she mouthed his name in the silent atmosphere. Caught her as she fell into his arms.

"Chi-Chi," he called as the world around exploded into sound once more. "Chi-Chi!"

She didn't answer. Nothing moved. He felt his hands, his arms tremble as he shifted her around, trying to get her to open her eyes. Her _ki_ was still acting weird. It was so low. So much lower than it was normally. Something was wrong.

"Chi-Chi, what happened," he whispered into the air. "You were fine a minute ago..."

Biting his lower lip, he tried to think of what he could do. Was she too hot? Maybe the heat had gotten to her for some reason? She did have sweat running across her face, but he thought that was normal because they _had_ been exercising. She would have told him if something was wrong, wouldn't she?

But, wait, she _had_ -

She said she'd felt sick earlier. Her stomach had been upset this morning, bothering her for some unknown reason. So...maybe that was connected?

Either way, he couldn't just sit here and stare at her. Especially with the way her _ki_ kept acting up. It was too low. Dangerously low. He groaned, holding her carefully in his arms as he walked into the house. Kicked open the door, left it swinging by its hinges as he made his way back to their room. He wasn't sure if it was cooler in the house, but he was pretty sure laying her down in bed would be better than nothing.

She didn't even groan as he set her down, though thankfully she was still breathing. Just passed out. For...some...reason. Oh man…

Leaving her on top of the covers, he had to wonder what else he could do. To be honest, he knew a little about treating battle wounds, but when it came to something like _this?_ He wasn't exactly an expert on treating people when they were sick. Or what to do with someone who was unconscious, besides making sure they were still alive and...well...if it _was_ because of the heat then he should do what he could to cool her off, right? He groaned, hand to his head. He wasn't even sure that was the reason.

He supposed keeping her cool wasn't exactly a _bad_ idea…

But that would mean he'd have to leave her to get water or something to fan her with, and he didn't want to do that. He wanted to stay by her side until she woke up. Because she _would_ wake up. Of course she would. There was no reason to think she wouldn't. Except…

His eyes shifted to her stomach. Why was her _ki_ focused in that area? That was weird. Her energy was low enough, but now all of it seemed to be going in that direction. What did _that_ mean?

Goku dropped to his knees beside the bed, moved his hand to her belly, seeing his fingers shaking as he stretched them over the fabric of her clothes. That was weird, too. Why was _he_ shaking? He wasn't the one feeling sick. Chi-Chi was the one whose ki was dangerously low. So, what was wrong with him? Now that he thought about it, his hands weren't the only things shaking. His heart pounded in his chest, his blood pumping loudly in his ears. He was nervous.

Nervous? Over what?

A glance to Chi-Chi's face made him hum. Frowning at the way her breaths came in short, shallow gasps. Unconscious, but breathing. Barely. His nervousness seemed to increase as he watched her. Was it her? Why would he be acting like this? He'd never been this worried over someone else before. Not for something that _should_ be okay.

"Chi-Chi," he groaned, eyes going back to where he was rubbing her stomach. "Please wake up. I don't like this."

Maybe it was because he didn't know what to do. Sure, cooling her off was an option, but leaving the bedside felt _wrong_ somehow. And then there was the matter of her _ki…_

It was dropping again.

Taking in a shaky breath of his own, he jumped into action. Closing his eyes, he focused on his _ki_ and hers, before taking a little bit of his own and sending it toward her, hoping she would accept it. Hoping it wouldn't hurt. Hoping it would help the situation.

When he heard her groan and felt her body shift under his hand, he snapped his eyes open and brought his hand to her cheek instead. "Chi-Chi?"

Her eyes opened, slowly but staring back at him with enough clarity for him to know she was feeling better now. "Goku?"

"Yeah, hi," he said, feeling his entire body relax significantly at seeing her okay. "You fainted. But it's okay now. You're fine, right?"

"Huh? I -" he watched as the information processed and she gave a smile in return. "Yeah, I'm fine. Hungry, though, strangely enough."

Letting out a breath, he pulled back, helping her to sit up. Whatever had caused her problems seemed to be fine now. All she'd needed was a little bit of extra energy, but...that was weird. Why would she need energy? Was something stealing hers from her? Or was she not eating enough? Either way, it had been a close call. And he didn't like how close it had been.

"Chi-Chi," he whispered, leaning in to wrap his arms around her, nuzzling his face against her shoulder. "Don't do that again."

"Oh, Goku," she murmured, hands coming around to rub at his back. "You were really worried, weren't you?"

He nodded against her, holding her close to him, not wanting to let go, not wanting to ever feel that desperation again; he was supposed to be able to protect her from anything. Now he knew he really _did_ want to protect her from anything. He would do everything in his power to keep her safe, because having her so close to leaving him had been...frightening. More so than the fear he had for his friends. He didn't want to ever let her go again, even though he knew he would have to eventually, but for the moment this hug could last.

Someone had tried to explain love to him once. How it would make you do crazy things. Well...after this...he was pretty sure he would do crazy things for Chi-Chi.

"Hey, Chi-Chi," he said, pulling his head back just enough to meet her eyes. "I think I love you."

She stared back at him, and then _laughed,_ bringing her hands up to both sides of his face. "Oh, Goku, I love you too, sweetheart."

And then she kissed his lips. Soft and sweet. Pulling back to let their eyes meet again. She smiled, and he returned it, knowing somehow that he was finally understanding all these strange feelings. These feelings that had followed him around after marrying Chi-Chi. A steady climb of little moments that all led to a sudden realization after such a close scare.

Understanding _love_ was still far above his reach, but he was pretty sure whatever he felt towards Chi-Chi was definitely the cause of such an emotion. Impossible to explain, but present all the same. He didn't want to let it go. He didn't want to let _her_ go. Hopefully, he wouldn't ever have to.


End file.
